Hans Rosling

SPEAKING FEE RANGE ** Please note that while this speaker’s specific speaking fee falls within the range posted above (for Continental U.S. based events), fees are subject to change. For current fee information or international event fees (which are generally 50-75% more than U.S based event fees), please contact us.Contact for fee schedule

Hans Rosling is the founder of the Gapminder Foundation, an organization that strives to make statistical data freely available and easily understandable online. He is also the co-founder of Doctors without Borders Sweden and a professor of international health at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

As a physician, Rosling spent many years in rural Africa studying a rare paralytic disease, which he named konzo. He discovered that the cause of this disease was a combination of hunger and badly processed cassava. For 20 years, he researched the character of the links between economy and health in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has personally argued with many heads of state, including Fidel Castro, and he has advised WHO and UNICEF.

Hans Rosling’s years of research and experience inspired him to write a textbook about global health. He is currently a member of the International Group of the Swedish Academy of Science and of the Global Agenda Network of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. His goal is to address the global economy and dispel common myths about the so-called developing world, which he believes is no longer worlds away from the West.

Full Profile

Hans Rosling has the unique ability to make statistical data come alive in order to address the global economy and, in particular, dispel common myths about the so-called developing world, which he believes is no longer worlds away from the West.

The founder of the Gapminder Foundation – an organization that strives to make statistical data freely available and easily understandable online – and a professor of international health at Karolinska Institutet, Hans Rosling began his wide-ranging career as a physician, spending many years in rural Africa tracking a rare paralytic disease (which he named konzo) and discovering its cause: hunger and badly processed cassava. He co-founded Doctors Without Borders Sweden, wrote a textbook on global health, and has advised the WHO and UNICEF.

What sets Rosling apart as a speaker isn’t just his apt observations of broad social and economic trends, but the stunning way he presents them. You’ve never seen data presented like this. By any logic, a presentation that tracks a wide range of global trends should be, in a word, boring. But in Rosling’s hands, data sings. Trends come to life. And the big picture – usually hazy at best – snaps into sharp focus.

Rosling’s presentations are grounded in solid statistics (often drawn from United Nations data), illustrated by the visualization software he developed. The animations transform development statistics into moving bubbles and flowing curves that make global trends clear, intuitive, and even playful. During his legendary presentations, Rosling takes this one step farther, narrating the animations with a sportscaster’s flair.

Hans Rosling is a member of the International Group of the Swedish Academy of Science and of the Global Agenda Network of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. His 20 years of research on global health concerned the character of the links between economy and health in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He’s also personally argued with many heads of state, including Fidel Castro.

Hans Rosling Speaker Videos

Hans Rosling: Religions and Babies - TEDx Doha

In his presentation at TEDxSummit in Doha, Qatar, Rosling discusses the links between religion and sexuality, answering the question of whether some religions have higher birthrates than others, and how this affects global population growth. He opens by talking about what he says he remembers as “the most wonderful,” which is “when the young couple whisper, ‘Tonight, we’re going to make a baby.’” He states that many people feel that religion directly affects population growth because many religions encourage women to have more children.

Through his interactive animations, Rosling shows how the relationship between religious majority and population growth has changed since 1960, and how the average number of children per woman has decreased over time for all major religions. He concludes that there is not much of a correlation between religion and number of children, but there is one between income and number of children. “There is a difference with income,” he says. “The countries which have many babies per women here, they have mostly low income.”

Hans Rosling: Stats that reshape your world-view-TedTalk

Speeches / Speaking Engagements

Rosling has the unique ability to make statistical data come alive. Normally, a keynote presentation that tracks a wide range of global trends would be dreadfully boring, but Hans Rosling presents this information in a stunning way that brings it into sharp focus.

Illustrated by the visualization software he developed, Rosling’s speaking presentations transform solid statistics into moving bubbles and flowing curves that make them clear, intuitive and even playful. Rosling adds his own stunning narration to his animations, revealing the story of the world’s past, present and future development with a sportscaster’s flair.

Future Global Trends: A Fact-Based View

Is child mortality falling? Where is HIV decreasing? What are adult literacy rates around the world? These are some of the questions Hans Rosling addresses through Gapminder, a nonprofit that strives to make statistical data freely available and easily understandable online.

* Please note that while this speaker’s specific speaking fee falls within the range posted above (for Continental U.S. based events), fees are subject to change. For current fee information or international event fees (which are generally 50-75% more than U.S based event fees), please contact us.

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Is child mortality falling? Where is HIV decreasing? What are adult literacy rates around the world? These are some of the questions Hans Rosling addresses through Gapminder, a nonprofit that strives to make statistical data freely available and easily understandable online.

Hans Rosling: Religions and Babies - TEDx Doha

In his presentation at TEDxSummit in Doha, Qatar, Rosling discusses the links between religion and sexuality, answering the question of whether some religions have higher birthrates than others, and how this affects global population growth. He opens by talking about what he says he remembers as “the most wonderful,” which is “when the young couple whisper, ‘Tonight, we’re going to make a baby.’” He states that many people feel that religion directly affects population growth because many religions encourage women to have more children.

Through his interactive animations, Rosling shows how the relationship between religious majority and population growth has changed since 1960, and how the average number of children per woman has decreased over time for all major religions. He concludes that there is not much of a correlation between religion and number of children, but there is one between income and number of children. “There is a difference with income,” he says. “The countries which have many babies per women here, they have mostly low income.”